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These App Store ads are the Wild West right now. I've seen multiple cases where I search an exact app name, and that app's competitor has the top "spot" due to

These App Store ads are the Wild West right now. I've seen multiple cases where I search an exact app name, and that app's competitor has the top "spot" due to buying an ad. It's like if you searched for Uber and saw an ad for Lyft above it. How long will apple allow this? At the very least it should be impossible to bid on trademarked terms, and no ad should ever outrank an exact match result.

reboog711 9y ago
Ignoring any ethical concerns you may have... Advertising has often been comparing yourself to other brands. As one real world example: The Pepsi Challenge from the 80s. People drank Coke and Pepsi blindly and chose which one they liked better. It is not illegal in the US and not inherently a misuse of trademark law. I'd be surprised if you were to tell me that Uber and Lyft are not buying ads against each other's search terms.
- chatmasta 9y ago
  Google does not allow bidding on trademark terms you do not own, so there is at least clear precedent. Edit: Oops, mostly wrong. Guess I've had an adblocker for too long. :)
  - jasongill 9y ago
    Yes they do, and they have for 15+ years. Their website even says: Trademarks as keywords Google won't investigate or restrict the selection of trademarks as keywords, even if we receive a trademark complaint. Search for "Uber" on Google and you should see a Lyft ad right near the top of the paid section.
    - tyingq 9y ago
      Worth noting they will police the use of the trademarked term in the ad itself. But only after the trademark owner complains about it, and not in all situations. You can still bid on the term, of course, just somewhat restricted in what the resulting ad can say.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
jasongill 9y ago
Contrary to what other commenters believe, this is the way that all PPC systems work - search for "Uber" on Google, Bing, etc and you're guaranteed to see a Lyft ad.
- ikeboy 9y ago
  just did in incognito and saw an uber ad but no lyft one
  - jlarocco 9y ago
    No doubt Uber paid a lot of money for that to be the case...
    - Buge 9y ago
      They're paying money so that I don't see ads? That seems quite nice of them.
      - jlarocco 9y ago
        Not sure if you're being facetious or not, but they're paying Google to not show ads for their competitors when a person searches for "uber".
        Pyxl101 9y ago
        As far as I'm aware, that's not something that Google allows you to do. Is it? It seems more likely that: - Other services have decided not to bid on "Uber". It may be more useful to bid on general keywords like "taxi" or "black car", etc. - The price for that keyword is too high to be worth it - The performance of the ads is poor such that Google doesn't show them. - It's also possible that Lyft is bidding on the keyword "Uber", but only in certain geographical areas where they're trying to grow their presence.
        idunno246 9y ago
usaphp 9y ago
> it's like if you searched for uber and ad for lyft above. When I search for lyft I actually see uber ad above: https://imgur.com/gallery/zQz7e https://imgur.com/gallery/zQz7e
yvsong 9y ago
Historically Apple's primary strength is product quality. This kind of apps should not pass the App Store review. The App Store should not allow ads, since they reduce overall product quality. Google web search is different. Google does not control web contents. Google's primary product/service is the free web search, and they have to make a profit from it. App Store search is a tiny part of Apple's product/service. Apple makes tons of money from other parts. Steve Jobs was the creative artist in the IT industry, and obsessive in product quality. It may be time to ask the question "What would Steve Jobs have done?"
pavel_lishin 9y ago
Isn't it more like searching for Uber, and seeing an ad for Ober, that's advertising an app that look exactly like Uber's?

reboog711 9y ago

Ignoring any ethical concerns you may have... Advertising has often been comparing yourself to other brands. As one real world example: The Pepsi Challenge from the 80s. People drank Coke and Pepsi blindly and chose which one they liked better. It is not illegal in the US and not inherently a misuse of trademark law. I'd be surprised if you were to tell me that Uber and Lyft are not buying ads against each other's search terms.

chatmasta 9y ago
Google does not allow bidding on trademark terms you do not own, so there is at least clear precedent. Edit: Oops, mostly wrong. Guess I've had an adblocker for too long. :)
- jasongill 9y ago
  Yes they do, and they have for 15+ years. Their website even says: Trademarks as keywords Google won't investigate or restrict the selection of trademarks as keywords, even if we receive a trademark complaint. Search for "Uber" on Google and you should see a Lyft ad right near the top of the paid section.
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Worth noting they will police the use of the trademarked term in the ad itself. But only after the trademark owner complains about it, and not in all situations. You can still bid on the term, of course, just somewhat restricted in what the resulting ad can say.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

jasongill 9y ago

Contrary to what other commenters believe, this is the way that all PPC systems work - search for "Uber" on Google, Bing, etc and you're guaranteed to see a Lyft ad.

ikeboy 9y ago
just did in incognito and saw an uber ad but no lyft one
- jlarocco 9y ago
  No doubt Uber paid a lot of money for that to be the case...
  - Buge 9y ago
    They're paying money so that I don't see ads? That seems quite nice of them.
    - jlarocco 9y ago
      Not sure if you're being facetious or not, but they're paying Google to not show ads for their competitors when a person searches for "uber".
      - Pyxl101 9y ago
        As far as I'm aware, that's not something that Google allows you to do. Is it? It seems more likely that: - Other services have decided not to bid on "Uber". It may be more useful to bid on general keywords like "taxi" or "black car", etc. - The price for that keyword is too high to be worth it - The performance of the ads is poor such that Google doesn't show them. - It's also possible that Lyft is bidding on the keyword "Uber", but only in certain geographical areas where they're trying to grow their presence.
        idunno246 9y ago

usaphp 9y ago

> it's like if you searched for uber and ad for lyft above. When I search for lyft I actually see uber ad above: https://imgur.com/gallery/zQz7e https://imgur.com/gallery/zQz7e

yvsong 9y ago

Historically Apple's primary strength is product quality. This kind of apps should not pass the App Store review. The App Store should not allow ads, since they reduce overall product quality. Google web search is different. Google does not control web contents. Google's primary product/service is the free web search, and they have to make a profit from it. App Store search is a tiny part of Apple's product/service. Apple makes tons of money from other parts. Steve Jobs was the creative artist in the IT industry, and obsessive in product quality. It may be time to ask the question "What would Steve Jobs have done?"

pavel_lishin 9y ago

Isn't it more like searching for Uber, and seeing an ad for Ober, that's advertising an app that look exactly like Uber's?